Care and hospitality from Meghalaya

December 5, 2024

After spending the night roadside with construction workers, I woke up early and started my ride to the nearest settlement, which turned out to be just a couple of kilometers away.

There, I had some breakfast and tea, and bought a pineapple for Rs. 10 (about 12 cents) at the farmers' market. That's one interesting thing I have observed here. There's no jacking up of prices for a "fareng", a foreigner here. Sadly, it's abundant in my part of india.

As I rode through the mountains, I passed many "green" houses and structures. This region is pretty "poor" compared to rest of India or Meghalaya but this way of construction is what probably we need if we want to "save" Earth.

Environmentally-conscious or "poverty". These folks are next-level when it comes to being "green"..

They just flatten bamboos which are widely cultivated in these parts and used as walls, floors and such.

As I kept riding, admiring the simplicity of life here, I got some company when some village kids decided to race me..! I was fortunate to have picked up some local oranges. I gifted them some and continued on.

As I was cresting a hill, I noticed my rear wheel was coming off the rim. It seemed I hadn’t fixed it properly when repairing the flat the previous evening. I stopped to address the issue and ate the entire pineapple by the roadside. It was refreshing, especially after sweating profusely during the climb.

Eating "local-organic-Rs.10" pineapple..

I continued up and down the mountains, navigating both paved and under-construction roads. I stopped by Balpakram National Park but couldn’t enter because an elephant census was underway.

In this part of Meghalaya, I had to start from scratch linguistically, as a different tribe and language, Garo was predominant. So, I picked up some basics in Garo, such as Mathelaa (Thank-you) and numbers. As I rode on, enjoying the scenery, I didn’t realize it was getting dark.

Sadly, a visit to this national park has to wait..

Then the road suddenly changed for worse or better if you ask, MotaaCycle.

Met a border guard who happened to be from my part of South India, so got to practice my language for a change..

I was just 16 km away from Baghmara when villagers along the way urged me to spend the night in their village, Panda warning me of an elephant reserve ahead. While I debated my next steps, a concerned scooterist offered to escort me up to Baghmara . Though I felt guilty and repeatedly assured him I didn’t mind staying in the village, he insisted Baghmara was a better place to spend the night and accompanied me at my pace.

These good Samaritans ferried me to safety but would not accept anything in return..

Luckily, his "duty" ended when a pickup truck driver, who had seen me earlier that day, offered me a ride. I was disappointed not to ride the last 16 km but grateful for the gesture, especially as the elephant reserve seemed intimidating in the dark. And, everyone I met there seemed to agree that the reserve was not safe during the night.

When I tried to offer money for the safe ride, they simply waved it off.

Finally, that night as I was reviewing my ride stats, I realized I had climbed approximately 5,700 feet over 62 km, not including the final 16 km by truck.

Exhausted, I checked into a hotel but still had a class to attend that night. So after freshening up, and picking some roti-curry for dinner, I got back to my routine of online teaching.

Today's ride: 62 km (39 miles)
Total: 1,605 km (997 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	2
Comment on this entry	Comment	0